For a mysterious act, there’s not much mystery in answering the phone while jumping off the tram in Melbourne. The enigmatic Hoodlem vocalist was doing exactly that as as we began our chat and it seems it’s the routine of hopping on the tram and off the tram in the same place, that leads her to saying almost immediately that she’s moving to Toronto.
“I wanted to do something that didn’t feel so comfortable and surround myself with new people,” she says.
Releasing a debut EP doesn’t seem like the most comfortable thing to do but just one listen of their self-titled project and you recognise immediately that comfortable is not what they’re about. It’s a seductive R&B-centred effort but it’s coloured by woozy bass and off-kilter vocals. There’s the same kind of flair for innovation there that made people so excited about Jai Paul or Floating Points.
Kintsugi is the track that has excited people right off the bat thanks to its sleek melody and effortlessly groovy beat that positioned them ahead of the painfully overcrowded electro-R&B genre.
“There’s a dirtiness to Hoodlem that I like,” she says and that’s exactly what sets them apart. Their melodies are smooth but their instrumentals are chaotic and crowded in a sort of beautiful state of anarchy.
“I like producers with lots of toys, like James Blake,” she says answering a question about her dream collaborator. The intricacy in the arrangements on each Hoodlem track proves that they’re also a duo that like their toys. The risk in that is that you ostracise the casual, unskilled music fans.
“I grew up with the ‘90s divas singing into my impulse can to Janet and Mariah,” she laughs. It’s perhaps that pop-backbone that sees them deliver hooks that you can latch onto. The Janet Jackson influence also extends into the vibe of the songs which are largely mid-tempo, after-dark jams. Hoodlem themselves describe EP opener Collapse as “sex”.
“Switch off the lights and undress.”
‘90s nostalgia is running rife in music right now but the ‘90’s-raised singer says that you can’t go into the studio with any preconceived notions of what you want to sound like.
“I don’t think you can worry too much about what it sounds like. Obviously if you’re copying it’s a problem but if not let it happen naturally,” she says.
For now Hoodlem remains a mystery beyond anything that you can gather from the songs. There are press pictures floating around but you’ll be hard-pressed to find the names of the pair. They are also playing live shows flooded by lights keeping the “unknown” element.
“I wanted it to be a project that could change,” she says as to why they chose to remain mysterious. With a move on the cards, she thinks it very likely that the project will adopt or even drop members and therefore, the mystery is more to retain the flexibility of Hoodlem than to cast a dark shadow over their identity.
The move to Toronto is something that could change the lineup and also expand the band’s sound. “My mind is like a tornado,” she says talking through her creative process. A move will likely give her a whole new plain to sweep through collecting influences as she goes.
“I’m very much influenced by my environment,” she says at the tail end of the conversation. While she’s already starting new songs for the next EP, those songs will no doubt be renovated and twisted as she settles into new surrounds and discovers new collaborators.
After all, Toronto is home to producers like Nineteen85, the man behind Hotline Bling, Boi-1da, the producer behind Rihanna’s Work and Drake’s right-hand man Noah “40” Shebib.
Who knows what influence that will have on Hoodlem. For now, we have their masterful debut EP and that’s doing more than enough to set them on the right path.
Hoodlem's self-titled debut is available now where all exciting new music is sold | streamed.
Interview conducted by the interns' Sam Murphy for Cool Accidents